How to care for Keping Shou
You may not be familiar with the related experience of the succulent plant Keping Shou. Let's see how to care for it together!
Keping Shou is a succulent plant belonging to the soft-leaf Haworthia genus of the Liliaceae family. Some plant enthusiasts may not know how to care for Keping Shou. It prefers cool, dry conditions with ample and gentle sunlight, can tolerate semi-shade, but is afraid of waterlogging, extreme heat, and is not cold-resistant.
The flowering period of Keping Shou is in spring and summer, and pollination must be done between different plants, or it can also be intergeneric hybrid pollination. The mature seeds are black. If the flower spikes are not pollinated, the flower stems can be cut off to prevent the plant from consuming its nutrients.
Plant care examples:
The soil used for Keping Shou by Gengfeng is a mixture of coal slag, peat, and perlite, with a small amount of vermiculite and pumice added. There is a layer of ceramsite at the bottom of the pot. During the growing season, the entire plant looks very beautiful, and the potting soil is kept slightly moist because they like high humidity, but this humidity is only suitable when the roots are growing well. Plant enthusiasts should note that if the roots are not well-developed and the soil is kept moist, it can lead to root rot. The specific rooting method is to keep the soil slightly moist, plant the plant with the dried wound in a shaded and well-ventilated area, and wait for new roots to grow. After new roots appear, water can be gradually increased, and sunlight exposure can be increased. If the plant is kept in the shade for too long, it will deform and stretch, and it will take a long time to return to its original state.
In the summer, due to high temperatures, the plant's growth is slow or stops, and the bottom leaves will gradually dry out. The potting soil should be kept moderately dry throughout the summer, with a small amount of water given at the edge of the pot each month, avoiding the leaf heart as high temperatures can easily cause rot. Keeping the plant's roots growing slowly or stopping requires the right amount of water, and it's not appropriate to let the plant go into dormancy without water due to high temperatures. During dormancy, some of the leaves' moisture and nutrients may be consumed, leading to the drying and shrinking of the bottom leaves and the entire plant. The roots may also dry out. Due to slow growth and high temperatures, the leaves of the plant are generally not very plump in the summer, and each season has its own beauty.
Winter is the coldest season in Huangshan. Throughout the winter, Gengfeng covers the plant with a transparent plastic cover, keeping the potting soil slightly moist and watering a little each month to maintain warmth and humidity. The sunlight during the day can raise the temperature, and the air humidity is high, making the leaves particularly plump and beautiful. The window is also transparent.
Plant propagation can be done through cross-pollination and sowing or intergeneric hybrid pollination, or by cutting off the top to encourage the growth of new shoots, but this variety does not like to grow side shoots. Gengfeng has not tried cutting off the top, as he has been reluctant to do so for many years, waiting for the day when a side shoot naturally separates.
During cultivation, the top of the succulent leaves may change from 'convex' to 'concave', the leaf color may become dull, and the 'window' surface may become cloudy, and growth may stop. Apart from summer dormancy, this condition may indicate that the plant's roots have dried up and died. The plant can be removed from the soil, the rotten and dead roots cleared, and after drying for 3-7 days, it can be replanted in new culture soil. Once new roots grow, the succulent leaves will gradually become plump and return to their original shape. Normally growing plants can be repotted once a year in autumn, and the plant's roots should be tidied up during repotting, removing any rotten and old roots.
Slow-release fertilizers can be mixed into the potting mix for the roots to absorb gradually. New plants should not be watered too much, just keep the soil slightly damp to help the roots recover. Gengfeng is not very proactive about repotting, usually only doing so when the plant stops growing or when the pot is too small.
The above is a detailed introduction on how to care for Keping Shou. Do you understand now?